Whether married or single, parent, partner, cousin or child of a soldier, we want you to tell us all about your Army family. Follow #OurArmyFamily on Twitter and Instagram for more stories. Here, Nicola Kellock and her husband Chris tell us about life as an Army family of eight…


Chris, who is the padre to 1 RRF, and I have been together for ten years. We have six children – five boys, one girl – two dogs and a cat, all in SFA on the patch. I guess you could say life is fairly busy!

We have been stationed in Colchester and are currently in Tidworth, soon to be on the move again. Although our time in the Army has been relatively short, Service life is not new to us so we have a good understanding of how tough and rewarding it can be.

The best part is the opportunity to experience new areas with every posting and meet people who understand Army life. But the worst thing is having family and friends spread all over the UK and the world – planning to see them is like a military exercise.

Living on the patch has its ups and downs as I have said farewell to many friends over the years. But the sense of family and community is important and you always meet up on another posting. I’ve had Forces friends for 20 years!

I work part-time which makes life a little easier for the family logistics. Juggling my leave, Chris’s regimental leave, boarding school holidays and Scottish holidays has been a challenge and it’s fair to say I am now an expert.

In our two-and-a-half years in Tidworth, Chris has been deployed six times including Sierra Leone, France, Brunei and Canada. Deploying to Sierra Leone at the height of the Ebola crisis was a worrying time for our family as he was working in a dangerous environment and was also away over Christmas.

My one piece of advice? Always have a plan B!


Do you and your loved ones want to share what makes up your #OurArmyFamily? Send your details to editor@aff.org.uk

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